Among the Strong
by Del Schiz
Summary: Even if their fighting styles are a bad match, does that mean that Lee and Sasuke are? Companion piece to: What Your Eyes Can See [light Leesuke]


Title: Among the Strong  
Author: D.L. SchizoAuthoress  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: this story might give you warm fuzzies...or it might make you quite upset  
Date: March 9th - 10th, 2006

"Among the Strong"

_Do you know that there are genius-types and hard-working-types among the strong?   
If your Sharingan is a genius-type that carries the blood of Uchiha...  
I am a hard-working-type that continuously improved my taijutsu.   
Your Sharingan and my ultimate hand-to-hand combat skills are a bad combination. _

What had begun as a test of skill had suddenly become something else. Lee wasn't sure why, but when Uchiha Sasuke looked at him with those red eyes, he'd felt something snap inside. They weren't the scornful, silvery orbs he was used to staring at in combat, but for some reason, Sasuke's gaze made him feel the way that Neji's did. Worthless and small.

'Will it only take you five minutes, Sasuke-kun?' Lee thought darkly. 'Five minutes to defeat me, like your loud teammate thought? No, for in five minutes, I will show you that I am not to be trifled with.'

All his life, Lee had felt worthless and small. A little brat who wanted to be a ninja, a little brat without the ability to mold chakra. Gai-sensei had changed that, in a way. At least Lee was worthy and special in the eyes of his beloved teacher. But it wasn't enough, not for Lee -- no, Lee wanted the acknowledgement of his peers.

And now, he wanted the acknowledgement of Uchiha Sasuke, so supremely confident behind his Sharingan eyes. "Illusionary or ninja technique, it's just magic either way!" Sasuke shouted, charging toward Lee. "I'll reveal the secret!"

Lee countered Sasuke's straightforward attack with one of his own, a kick to the chest that sent the younger boy flying into the air.

Shocked, Sasuke stared at Lee, muttering, "I can't detect it with my Sharingan? Could it be that his moves are...?"

"Yes," Lee replied, lifting his head to stare back at Sasuke, "my moves are neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu."

'Because they can't be. Because I can't...' Lee thought. He went in for an attack of his own, determined to defeat his opponent. By any means necessary, even if it meant breaking a promise.

----

"Sasuke!" Naruto screams in frustration, "You call yourself Uchiha Sasuke with that? Stop acting like an idiot! Get serious!"

Lee is watching intently. Can it be that Sasuke, last surviving member of the Uchiha clan, is so weak? He refuses to believe it. Sasuke is a strong person, he knows. As Sasuke's gaze slides from Naruto toward him, Lee feels his chest tighten suddenly. When Sasuke's Sharingan lie dormant, his eyes are black as night. As black as Lee's own eyes.

'He's...' Sasuke thinks, staring at Lee. His eyes flare wide for a moment. 'I've got it!'

'He's like me,' Lee thinks, unknowingly finishing Sasuke's first thoughts. 'His eyes...they are so dark, so lonely.'

"You don't have time to look the other way!" Sasuke's opponent shouts.

But he has. He has looked the other way, and it's saved him.

----

'Lee, I was able to win thanks to you.' Sasuke thinks, afterward, wishing that he could say it aloud. 'If I didn't see your move up close, I would have been done for.'

A tiny, wry smile crosses Sasuke's face briefly as he recalls being hit by Lee's Shadow Dance. He certainly had gotten a close look at the move, a very close look. He puts a hand to his chest in pain, wincing a bit. 'Although it seems I can't use the move consecutively too much...'

Lee watches Sasuke with concern, and he is also thinking of something he wants to tell the other boy. 'I see, so you copied part of the moves I used on you just once. That must be your ability.' The secret of the Sharingan, the advantage that Sasuke had been given at birth. 'Sasuke-kun, you are incredible. You become stronger and stronger. I even feel some fear of you.'

Their eyes meet once more, for only a breath, a heartbeat. And Lee finds himself wistfully hoping that, although their styles of combat are ill-suited for each other, he and Uchiha Sasuke can find out if they, themselves, are not such a bad combination after all.


End file.
